Trip Report New Zealand 2004

Simon Plat, Maaike Poppinga
Dates: 24-02-2003 till 13-03-2003
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Fjordlands and the westcoast

Location: Entrance to the Fjordland area is by the town of Te Anau about 4 hours drive from Dunedin. From here you can drive into Milford Sound (with the famous Rock Wren spot at the Homer Tunnel) and to Manapouri (where boats into Doubtful Sound depart). In this chapter I also included our short visit to Glenorchie and the Punakaki area (west coast) where we also did a bit of birding. Glenorchie is one of the greatest areas we visited, about 1 hour drive west of Queenstown. Punakaki is about 1 hour north of Greymouth which is another 4.5 hours drive west of Christchurch.

Costs: NZ $ 410,- for a two person daytrip into Doubtful Sound (excluding lunch)

Date(s): 10-12-2004 (Milford Sound), 11-12-2004 (Doubtful Sound), 12-12-2004 (Glenorchie), 13-12-2004 (Punakaki)

Notes: The best spot to find Rock Wren must be at the Homer Tunnel, on the way to Milford Sound. The short nature trail is easy to find at the carpark east of the tunnel. Realise that this bird is by far not guaranteed, esspecialy if you don't have means to call it in. This area is also good for Kea. Both Milford and Doubtful Sound are good for Fjordland Crested Penguin. We visited the Glenorchie area to find Yellow-fronted Parakeet (see the endemics section). In Punakaiki I birded the Bullock's Creek just north of town for Greater Spotted Kiwi.

Highlights: Greater Spotted Kiwi (2 heard only at Bullocks Creek), Fjordland Crested Penguin (5 Doubtful Sound), New Zealand Falcon (2 Glenorchie), Weka (1 Doubtful Sound, 1 Bullocks Creek), Yellow-fronted Parakeet (3 Glenorchie), Kea (6 Milford Sound, V Haast), Rifleman (1 Glenorchie), Rock Wren (2 one by my wife, one by me at the Homer Tunnel), New Zealand Fernbird (2 heard only somewhere between Haast and Fox Glacier), Pipipi (V Fjordlands, V Glenorchie)

Pics:

A scene of Milford Sound.
Kea can be quite destructive at the car park near the Homer Tunnel. They seem to like the attention of visiting tourists. Kea
This is where the Rock Wren must be found! During our stay it was raining/snowing a bit making it even more dramatic. And then the bird is only 10 cm high!
The famous view into Doubtful Sound. The trip to Doubtful Sound was wonderful.
Fjordland Crested Penguin Fortunately the very charming Fjordland Crested Penguins were still present. In total we saw 5 including these two found by the crew.
We were treated with good views of al large group of Bottlenose Dolphins. There must have been over 60, including young.
New Zealand Pigeon New Zealand Pigeon, not uncommon but difficult to get good pics of, unless they sit on the ground and stay there until you press the shutter.
Bullocks Creek is a nice spot to look around but it is a terrible place to try for Greater Spotted Kiwi in the dark in the rain.

White-fronted Tern

 The Pancake Rocks are a famous tourist spot in Punakaiki. There's also a breeding colony of White-fronted Terns present.

Bird List:

Column 1: E= endemic species; Eb=endemic breeding species
Column 2: E=Endangered; Nt=Near-threatened; V=Vulnerable
Last Columns: F=Fjordlands, G=Glenorchie, P=Punakaiki

F
G
P
E V Apteryx haastii Great Spotted Kiwi Grote Grijze Kiwi
2
Eb V Eudyptes pachyrhynchus Fiordland Penguin Fjordland Kuifpinguin
5
    Morus serrator Australian Gannet Pacifische Jan-van-gent
V
    Phalacrocorax carbo Great Cormorant Aalscholver
1
    Phalacrocorax melanoleucos Little Pied Cormorant Kleine Bonte Aalscholver
V
V
    Phalacrocorax varius Pied Cormorant Bonte Aalscholver
V
    Egretta novaehollandiae White-faced Heron Witwangreiger
V
    Anas superciliosa Pacific Black Duck Wenkbrouweend
V
E   Aythya novaeseelandiae New Zealand Scaup Nieuwzeelandse Toppereend
2
V
E   Tadorna variegata Paradise Shelduck Paradijscasarca
V
XX
V
    Circus approximans Swamp Harrier Moeraskiekendief
V
V
V
E Nt Falco novaeseelandiae New Zealand Falcon Nieuwzeelandse Valk
2
E V Gallirallus australis Weka Weka
1
1
    Porphyrio porphyrio Purple Swamphen Purperkoet
V
V
E   Haematopus finschi South Island Oystercatcher Nieuwzeelandse Bonte Scholekster
V
V
E   Haematopus unicolor Variable Oystercatcher Nieuwzeelandse Zwarte Scholekster
V
V
    Himantopus leucocephalus White-headed Stilt Witkopsteltkluut
V
V
    Vanellus miles Masked Lapwing Maskerkievit
X
V
V
E V Larus bulleri Black-billed Gull Zwartsnavelmeeuw
X
    Larus dominicanus Kelp Gull Kelpmeeuw
X
X
XX
E   Larus scopulinus Red-billed Gull Roodsnavelmeeuw
V
XX
E E Sterna albostriata Black-fronted Term Nieuwzeelandse Sterm
V
V
X
    Sterna striata White-fronted Tern Tara-stern
V
X
E Nt Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae New Zealand Pigeon Nieuwzeelandse Duif
V
E Nt Cyanoramphus auriceps Yellow-fronted Parakeet Geelvoorhoordkarakiri
3
E V Nestor meridionalis New Zealand Kaka Kaka
V
E V Nestor notabilis Kea Kea
6
V
    Ninox novaeseelandiae Southern Bobook Boeboekuil
3
    Todirhamphus sanctus Sacred Kingfisher Heilige IJsvogel
1
E   Acanthisitta chloris Rifleman Geweervogel
1
E Nt Xenicus gilviventris South Island/Rock Wren Rotswinterkoning
2
    Hirundo neoxena Welcome Swallow Welkomzwaluw
V
V
V
    Anthus novaeseelandiae Australasian Pipit Australische Pieper
V
V
E   Megalurus punctatus New Zealand Fernbird Varengrasvogel
2
E   Petroica australis New Zealand Robin Nieuwzeelandvliegenvanger
V
E   Petroica macrocephala Tomtit Maori-vliegenvanger
V
V
    Rhipidura fuliginosa Grey Fantail Grijze Waaierstaart
V
X
X
E   Gerygone igata Grey Gerygone Maori-mangrovezanger
V
V
V
E   Mohoua novaeseelandiae Pipipi Finschia
V
V
    Zosterops lateralis Silvereye Grijsrugbrilvogel
V
V
X
E   Anthornis melanura New Zealand Bellbird Maori-belhoningvogel
X
V
V
E   Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae Tui Toei
V
V
V

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